Thread: Ghostwriting advice

Hi all.

Hope this is the right forum for my question - apologies if it should lie elsewhere. I've just signed up to this site in the hope I will be able to utilise (ok - take advantage of) the experience people here may have.

I am a new writer of non-fiction and my first book is due to be published around the end of the year. It is via a small-time publisher so won't be making me millions but it is a toe in the door at least.

I'm looking to get into ghostwriting and to that end I am meeting an ex-professional footballer next week to discuss ghosting his autobiography. Again he is relatively small-time and so this won't be selling as would a Gazza or Gary Lineker profile work. Nevertheless it will hopefully allow me to progress from a toe to a full foot in the door.

My question is (yes there is a point to all this) what do I need to do, assuming he wants me to go ahead, as far as contracts between us are concerned?

I am presently out of work and short of cash so can't afford legal bills to draw up a contract for a book which may not get published and which won't be a huge seller even if it did. Would an agent or publisher handle such contracts or must it be drawn up specifically between me and the subject?

It will be his name on the cover as the author, so I am assuming he will receive all royalties unless the publishing contract specifies a split of some kind. I am looking at a split royalty basis as there is no guarantee of a published book and I don't want to scare him away with upfront fees as this is a foot-in-the-door project for me as explained.

Sorry to waffle on. Hopefully someone will be able to offer some advice (or a free contract template if I'm really lucky!).

Many thanks in advance for any assistance anyone can give me.

First thing to do is stop talking to the client until you have a contract. You need an agent and he needs a lawyer and, preferably, a public relations person. You and the client then communicate through your representatives. If you try to negotiate on your own you are leaving yourself open to loads of grief.

Royalties will be negotiated by his lawyer, your agent, and the publisher. Your agent will get 15 percent of your portion. Once you have a contract signed, that's the time to meet with the client and start the process of writing his life story.

One note on the writing itself. Because you are a ghost, meaning your name will not appear, you must tell the story that the client tells you. Your only job is to turn that story into readable prose, not to question whether what the client tells you is true. Suspension of disbelief must be one hundred percent.

I hope it's forgivable for me asking this, but this has piqued my curiosity. I'm well aware that his name won't show up on the autobiography, but with such little mention of the ghostwriter, how does one build up a reputation?

A ghost's reputation is built through his agent and through the publishers with whom he works. The public don't know him, but those who matter do know him. He misses out on the accolades heaped on other best-selling writers, but accumulates a rather nice inheritance for his grandchildren as recompense.

Originally Posted by garza

First thing to do is stop talking to the client until you have a contract. You need an agent and he needs a lawyer and, preferably, a public relations person. You and the client then communicate through your representatives. If you try to negotiate on your own you are leaving yourself open to loads of grief.

Royalties will be negotiated by his lawyer, your agent, and the publisher. Your agent will get 15 percent of your portion. Once you have a contract signed, that's the time to meet with the client and start the process of writing his life story.

Thanks Garza. What you say is, clearly, sensible advice - but there are a couple of problems with adopting that position, the most notable of which is simply that, even if this project DOES find a publisher, which is by no means certain, it will not be a huge selling work. Any suggestion to the client that he obtains a solicitor and we hire a PR person is going to scare him off. As indeed is the idea that he pay an upfront fee of any significance.

If anyone out there has any idea where I could perhaps get hold of a sample contract then that would be absolutely fantastic, as I would hate to be so close to securing a foothold in the profession I have long desired to be a part of only to run into a brick wall due to legal technicalities clashing with my lack of funds!

Thanks in advance for any further advice anyone can give.

I'm reviving this thread as I am looking for some advice on ghostwriting as well. I have recently been contacted by someone who may want me for some ghosting. I guess the first question I should ask is how much to charge. At the moment no details have been given as to what the project will involve, but I am going off the assumption - based on the nature of the email - that it will be a biography of some description. So many sites give so many different answers so it's hard to know where to begin. Obviously, it will depend on various factors such as how long the work will be, if any research will need to be done etc.

Is an agent mandatory from the off-set? I only ask as acquiring an agent so early on in one's writing career is hard to do. I would hate to have to put the project on hold while I wait for weeks (months?) to hear back from a potential agent to represent us.

Cheers for any advice.